Out of the ‘Cubicle’

Here’s a question I received today:  “Hi, Dan, I’m all set to purchase a small residential cleaning franchise (and finally be able to leave my ‘cubicle’ job), but given the present financial crisis, do you think it’s a good time to start a business?”

Actually, I think it’s a great time to start a business – precisely because of the present turmoil.  Think with me for a moment about where “security” exists.  If you work in a cubicle you probably are in a situation where one person – your one customer – could walk in tomorrow morning and fire you.  Now – if you have a hot dog stand down on a busy intersection in your town, you may have 376 people that stop by each day to buy a dog.  Thus you would have to have 376 people decide to stop using your service to put you out of business.  If one disgruntled customer decided he hated your dogs you would simply have to replace that one out of 376 customers. 

If you are a bookkeeper you may decide that rather than having one customer you are going to find 10 small businesses that are not large enough to justify a full-time bookkeeper but could use you one or two days a month.  Did you just lose the “security” you had in your former cubicle or did you just increase your “security” ten-fold? 

So is it riskier to start a business now or to stay in a corporate position – where managers are shaking in their boots, bottom lines are being ripped apart and every payroll is looked at a liability?

Incidentally, my wife just mentioned that she needs someone to come in and do a thorough cleaning of our house a couple times a month.  And I suspect we have 9 neighbors nearby who have the same desires.  In 8 years of living in this particular house, we have never to my knowledge have someone approach us about residential cleaning.